Six Sri Lankan asylum-seekers are in custody in Nauru on rape and assault charges.
Nauru police have charged one of the asylum seekers with rape and the other five with indecently assaulting a 20-year-old local woman.
Canberra has been running a detention centre on Nauru processing asylum seekers trying to get into Australia since 2001.
The Nauru government and Australia have allowed the inmates of the detention camp to mingle freely with locals on the island during daylight hours but this policy is now expected to be reconsidered.
The defendants will remain in police custody until September 5th.
